Ibelli, Mendes and Smith prevail in Round 3 at Mr Price Pro Ballito – Surfing news
Brazil’s Caio Ibelli, his fellow countryperson Jesse Mendes and South Africa’s Jordy Smith advanced to the fifth round (Round of 16) at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime Mr Price Pro Ballito after walking away with top honours from their
respective Round 3 (no-loser Round of 24) heats that went down at Ballito, South Africa, on Thursday, July 4, 2013.
Morocco’s Ramzi Boukhiam and Australia’s Jay Thompson finished behind below Ibelli in second and third place respectively during the opening heat of Round 3, consequently forcing them to take a trip to Round 4 (Round of 24).
The second heat saw Australia’s Stu Kennedy finishing in second place, while Hawaii’s Granger Larsen finished third, thus surrendering the Round 5 spot to Mendes and getting relegated to the fourth round.
While Smith claimed top honours in the third heat, his compatriot Beyrick De Vries and Basque Country’s Aritz Aranburu rounded out the second and third position respectively, which consequently led to their relegation to Round 4.
The surfers found themselves competing in clean, one-metre barrelling waves on the latest day of the competition. The stage was pretty much set for yet another round of thrilling battles as the exciting surfing talent got set to take each other on in three-man
battles.
The opening heat pitted Ibelli against Boukhiam and Thompson in a battle for the Round 5 slot. The Brazilian surfer got down to business from the get-go and posted a 7.00 on the score-board off his very first wave. Backing it up with a 7.40-point ride, Ibelli
finished with a two-wave total of 14.40 points, which proved sufficient to earn him the win.
Boukhiam was pretty impressive during the course of the heat, but eventually finished with a heat-total of 13.27 points, which was insufficient under the circumstances. Thompson had to settle for third place after registering a heat-total of 12.00 points.
The next heat saw Mendes claiming a convincing victory over Kennedy and Larsen to secure his place in the fifth round. The Brazilian sensation went through a series of average wave scores before posting a 6.23 on the score-board. In the final minutes of
the heat, he added an additional 9.23 points to his account, thus finishing with a decisive heat-total of 15.46 points.
Kennedy finished in second place with a heat-total of 14.17 points, whereas Larsen registered a two-wave total of 12.00 points.
Local hero Smith, current No.4 on ASP rankings, remained unstable during the third heat of Round 3 and came down hard at De Vries and Aranburu to claim a comprehensive victory over them.
The South African powerhouse executed a series of powerful turns and carves during the course of the battle to post a 9.07 and 9.50 on the score-board, thus finishing with a heat-total of 18.57 points.
De Vries was forced to settle for second place after finishing with a heat-total of 14.94 points, while Aranburu registered a heat-total of 11.24 points, thus finishing in third place.
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